User blog:Cuddlecuffs/For The Curious Out There
Hi folks and fellow editors. :) For a long while now, I've been keeping a record of useful quotes I've gathered from various interviews and articles that have historically helped me to answer some of the most common questions repeatedly asked in the fandom; a handful of these being: Amberprice (canon?), Warren Graham (creepy stalker?), Rachel Amber (manipulative?), Chloe Price (toxic friend?), and even fans questioning the body in the junkyard being Rachel, because we don't see her face. From personal experience, it's been quicker to resolve fan questions with a quote from the mouths of the devs and writers themselves. :) So here's my list of go-to quotes, plus some recent content from interviews conducted during the development of Season 2 that I think might be useful. I plan to update this blog as more quotes come to my attention that I think may be of interest. P.S. Any spelling and grammatical errors may be from the articles themselves, as I have directly copied and pasted comments of interest. Amberprice in DONTNOD’s first game August 2014 - Interview with Jean-Maxime Moris (Creative Director of Life is Strange and co-founder of DONTNOD Entertainment) and Michel Koch (Co-Game Director and Art Director for Life is Strange). Interviewer lead-in: Chloe hints at something more between her and Rachel, though she keeps it vague. Amberprice in Deck Nine’s prequel game November 2017 - Interview with Deck Nine Games’s Co-game Director, Chris Floyd after two of the three episodes of BtS were released. How do you approach romance in this game, and the ambiguity of Chloe and Rachel Amber's relationship? December 2017 - interview with Chris Floyd (Co-Game Director at Deck Nine Games). Interviewer Jessica Meno: "One of my favorite things about Before the Storm is this focus on Chloe and Rachel’s relationship. I think it goes beyond the boundaries of just friendship, but really lets the players explore what kind of relationship they want to craft from that. And I feel like that was really good on the team’s part, because it’s this push away from heteronormativity, and you know, the players get to decide. Would you mind discussing that a little bit?"'This was posted in the Life is Strange (GAME) Facebook group by the interviewer herself. On the comment thread, the author stated this was assigned to her as her first game to review. The interview was recorded on her iPhone and then transcribed. Camera_icons.png How the prequel came about (its inception - who approached whom first) November 2017 - Interview with Chris Floyd, Co-Game Director at Deck Nine Games. Lead-in by article writer Jessica Conditt: Deck Nine hired experienced writers and shopped itself around to major publishers, offering to take on emotionally complex projects with branching dialogue paths. Game director Chris Floyd didn't expect much to come of these early meetings. As fans of the series, developers were floored. And they were in. Later in the same article, in more detail: Was it Square Enix's idea to ship the prequel to a different studio? Camera_icons.png Square’s stance on Deck Nine sticking to canon November 2017 - Interview with Chris Floyd, Co-Game Director at Deck Nine Games, commenting about how much (or how little) they stuck to things from Dontnod’s first game. How involved are Dontnod and Square Enix in Before the Storm’s development? Camera_icons.png Junkyard body is definitely Rachel October 2015 - Interview with Co-Game Director Raoul Barbet and Producer Luc Baghadoust.Tech and digital news site iDigitalTimes was rebranded to Player.One in 2017. Interviewer Zulai Serrano: You might have heard many fan theories about Rachel Amber’s death by now. Some fans had a hard time believing it was actually Rachael Amber’s body in the ground because they didn’t see her face. Sorry guys, Rachel Amber is dead. Chloe doesn't know Rachel as well as she thinks Quotes taken from the same interview as above. The reveal of Rachel Amber’s body in the junkyard was an emotional scene for many Life is Strange fans even though they don’t know much about her. Max’s investigation in Rachel Amber’s disappearance has shown how little Chloe knows about her and raised more questions than answers. Camera_icons.png Was Rachel intended to have a bigger role? January 2016 - Another interview with Michel Koch where the community asked questions. baron calamity asks: Did Rachel Amber have a bigger role in the story at one point? Camera_icons.png Max and Chloe’s story is over for good (according to their creators) October 2015 - Confirmation about LiS concluding Max and Chloe's storyline for good (confirmed by Raoul Barbet and Luc Baghadoust). Camera_icons.png The first game is “narratively complete” (confirmation from DONTNOD) June 2015 - Statement about the first game being narratively complete (with no intention of any expansions). 2016 - Another statement on this finality (from Michel Koch). As we approach the end of the interview and the topic of conversation naturally moves onto the future of Max and Chloe and Life is Strange, Michel Koch utters a sentence with such finality: “Their story is done.” The co-director on Dontnod’s acclaimed adventure is brief and straight to the point about its two protagonists. “Something we know for sure is that in the course of those five episodes of Life is Strange we told the story we wanted to tell about Max and Chloe.” Camera_icons.png DONTNOD never wanted mysteries/things explained This video is the source of the two quotes below (video timestamps are shown before the quote). Camera_icons.png DONTNOD had their story planned out from the beginning This video is the source of the two quotes below (video timestamps are shown before the quote). Camera_icons.png DONTNOD on adding/changing/deleting scenes This video is the source of the quote below (video timestamps are shown before the quote). Camera_icons.png Chloe’s “Hella” (language intention) June 2015 - Discussing Chloe's Hella (the intentions of this). Koch added that these phrases — particularly Chloe's fervent use of the word "hella" — help players connect with the character. The origin of "Hella" (writer's perspective) August 2016 - Interview with writer Christian Divine on how the word is indigenous to the area Chloe is from. Camera_icons.png Warren’s persona (as intended) August 2015 - Discussing Warren’s persona (intentions) with Michel Koch. Camera_icons.png Ashly’s Role in the prequel game December 2017 - Interview about Ashly’s role in BtS as Writing Consultant (what it entailed). Ashly, after playing Chloe in the first season, could you instantly tell what felt right for her to say (and what didn't) when you were writing and consulting on the script for Before the Storm? Camera_icons.png Commentary on Amberprice (The Real Tragedy Vs the Happy Ending Fans Envision) January 2018 - Deck Nine Games’ Narrative & Level Designer, Christopher Means, pondering on how people see Amberprice (upon him seeing the hand-holding Chloe and Rachel pre-order figurines).When this was posted by myself in the Life is Strange (GAME) Facebook group on 27th January 2018 at 20:48 GMT with the header of “This twitter post from Deck Nine's own Narrative & Level Designer raises an interesting observation”, Dontnod’s Michel Koch ‘Liked’ the post. Camera_icons.png What is a Life is Strange Game? August 2018 - Michel Koch’s thoughts on what a Life is Strange game is. Camera_icons.png Opinions haven't changed on this since development of LiS 2 March 2019 - The Square Enix blog sat down for a chat with co-Creative Director Michel Koch and Writer Jean-Luc Cano to discuss the latest season (LiS 2). Interviewer Duncan Heaney: One thing I loved in Episode One is how subtly Daniel’s powers are represented - particularly in the opening section. There’s nothing showy - it’s fast and matter of fact. Why did you choose to present it this way? Camera_icons.png Why Chloe wasn’t nice at the beginning Michel Koch and Raoul Barbet’s comments on Chloe from the first Director's Commentary video that came with the Limited Edition boxed set and was unlocked to digital edition owners.Timestamps for the individual commentaries on this video: 01 Two Directors 0:00 - 02 Let's Play Life Is Strange 5:33 - 03 Intentions 11:47 - 04 A matter of choice 18:23 - 05 A lively world 24:09 - 06 Capturing the moment 29:42 - 07 Social issues 38:21 - 08 Getting things right 46:17 - 09 Voices of Arcadia Bay 54:34. Camera_icons.png Why Arcadia Bay is special - doe symbolism Michel Koch’s comments on Arcadia Bay and the doe from the first Director's Commentary video that came with the Limited Edition boxed set and was unlocked to digital edition owners. Camera_icons.png Did Rachel ever give Chloe that letter Max can find in the junkyard hideout? Raoul Barbet’s comments on Rachel’s junkyard letter from the first Director’s Commentary video that came with the Limited Edition boxed set and was unlocked to digital edition owners: Camera_icons.png DONTNOD’s attention to the little details and hiding things to be found Comments from Raoul Barbet, Amaury Balandier, and Laurent Cahour (Lead QA) in one of the nine Director’s Commentary videos that came with the Limited Edition boxed set and was unlocked to digital edition owners. Camera_icons.png Diversity and female leads (no pushed agendas) 2016 - Interview with Michel Koch. Max and Chloe's relationship and the ending Quote taken from the same interview as above. Camera_icons.png Deck Nine designed their game to be played first December 2017 - GameSpot speaks with Ashly Burch (Chloe’s original voice actress and story consultant for the prequel) and Deck Nine’s Co-game Director Chris Floyd. For newcomers, which game should they play first? Camera_icons.png Season 1 Easter Eggs, References, and fan service in Season 2 March 2019 - The Square Enix blog sat down for a chat with co-Creative Director Michel Koch and Writer Jean-Luc Cano to discuss the latest season (LiS 2). It must be tempting to cram each new Life is Strange 2 episode with Easter Eggs and references to Season One - how difficult is it deliver callbacks without negatively impacting the story? Camera_icons.png Ashly Burch quote about criticism I'm including this quote here because it has come in handy to show others that even Ashly Burch herself has strong views that game criticism doesn't always mean you are hating on something. It can simply mean you are coming from a place of wanting something to be better and do better. Notes Category:Blog posts